Union Co. school board approves rule on décor in classrooms

UNION COUNTY, N.C. (WBTV) – The board of education for Union County Public Schools passed new rules on what teachers can and cannot display in their classrooms.

Those rules were approved during Tuesday night’s meeting. There were strong feelings on both sides of the issue, with some parents feeling this could give the district the power to ban pride flags or LGBTQ books from the classroom. An online petition was even started to stop the policy change from happening.

The policy states classroom displays should be assessed by “the material’s overall purpose, educational significance, age appropriateness as to both reading level and content.”

According to the policy, content that would be considered inappropriate includes, but is not limited to, sexually explicit or graphic materials, and direct relationship to instructional objectives and the curriculum.

It all boils down to classroom materials must be limited to things that represent the United States, the state of North Carolina, the school name or mascot, or tie into the curriculum in some way.

Some felt students should focus on education.

“All families should be treated equal. Representation of heterosexual orientations cannot have special treatment,” one person said during the meeting’s public comment portion.

“The classroom is not a place for social justice. We should be nurturing an educational environment and refrain from telling children what to think,” another speaker said.

Although parents got a chance to weigh in, school board members did not discuss it but quickly approved the policy.

The policy also says that if the display is considered inappropriate at one school, officials will remove it from other schools and classrooms at the same grade level.

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